ponyo Tagged Articles at Cinematical

This has been one amazing year for animated films. At least four of them are contenders for my list of the year's best films, and a few others are good enough to warrant a second viewing. But despite that, the majority of them are in 3D, and rated PG, neither of which appeals much to my 3-1/2 year old son who is beginning to ask to come to the movies with me. There's one exception, still in theaters, that stands apart from all the rest of the competition: Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo (163 screens). Ponyo is hand-drawn (rather than computer-animated), not in 3D, and so far is the only G-rated movie of the year. (I'm not counting two others: Hannah Montana: The Movie, or Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, about which the less said, the better.)

Yet Ponyo hasn't exactly been lighting its United States audience on fire. Or maybe it just feels like we have already forgotten about it, despite some good voice work by Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Liam Neeson and others. It doesn't seem to be on the cinematic radar anymore, even though it did well in its home of Japan. Perhaps audiences were turned off by the fact that Disney-sanctioned Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas were cast to perform the two lead children, or that they recorded a truly insufferable song for the closing credits. Or perhaps the movie is too simple and too gentle. When Miyazaki's gorgeous, dark Spirited Away opened here in 2002, the time seemed right, and enthusiasm for his work ran high; the movie was ushered in as a major event in the history of animation.

Director Isao Takahata, who co-founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki, has revealed that he will be directing his first feature-length flick since 1999's My Neighbors the Yamadas. Takahata, who also wrote and directed the tear-jerker Grave of the Fireflies, will be taking on the classic folktale The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, or Taketori Monogatari.

According to Asian Pulse, "Taketori Monogatari has directly and indirectly inspired many Japanese manga and anime, such as Sailormoon and Inuyasha. This beloved story is considered to be the oldest surviving example of Japanese narrative... A little baby is found inside the stalk of a glowing plant by a bamboo cutter. He takes her home, and raises her with his wife as their own daughter, and they give her the name Kaguya-Hime (radiant-night princess). She grows into a beautiful adult woman, with many suitors, even the Emperor of Japan – and she rebuffs them all. Then, things become even more complicated as her true lineage becomes revealed, and her special relationship with the moon."

Although this famous tale has been the subject of many movies (Empire Online notes that it was also the subject of Kon Ichikawa's Taketori Monogatari, aka Princess from the Moon) this is the first time that Ghibli has ventured into folklore territory.

Asian Pulse also revealed that the revered Miyazaki, who wrote and directed Ponyo, Howl's Moving Castle, Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and My Neighbor Totoro, just to name a few, is in discussions to do two more features in the next three years.

The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter is slated for a 2010 release.

I was a little underwhelmed by Hayao Miyazaki's latest work, Ponyo, which seemed to me more cutesy and less dazzlingly expansive than what I am used to from the Japanese master of gorgeous cel animation. I suspect my reaction is due largely to the fact that this time Miyazaki wanted more earnestly than usual to appeal to the single-digit set, and so focused on keeping things as simple and adorable as possible. (Which, by the way -- if you're within grabbing distance of a tyke in the 5-8 age vicinity, haul him and her to the theater forthwith, as Ponyo will be gone by next weekend.) The result is less rewarding to Miyazaki's adult fans, but maybe that's unavoidable. I mean, Up -- a masterpiece and the best film of the year, if you ask me -- would probably bore a six year-old to tears.

Whatever your feelings about Ponyo, it's a vivid and not unpleasant reminder of the treasures that Miyazaki's filmography holds in store. If you're a movie buff who hasn't delved into Miyazaki, I envy you. If you have, what's your favorite? Mine, without a doubt, is Spirited Away, which is not only head-spinningly rich and imaginative like all of his work, but also haunting, and achingly sad, and somehow more personal. Even the poster -- as perfect a piece of movie artwork as I've ever seen -- is evocative and disquieting.

I'm curious to see if others share this view, so I've set up this poll. Which Miyazaki marvel is your favorite?

It wasn't long after I became a critic that I realized how the month of August tended to collect bad movies, like dust. Every year, the studios roll the dice on stupid-sounding ideas and come up, surprisingly enough, with stupid movies. They know it and we know it, but they have to try to get their money back anyway, so these movies get released, and they generally get released in August. I could go back and list dozens of examples -- OK, here's one example: Gigli, in August of 2003 -- but suffice to say that the last of the eagerly anticipated blockbusters opens in July and then the junk opens in August, clearing the way for awards season in the last four months of the year.

Now, last summer in my humble opinion was one of the best movie summers of my life, starting with Iron Man and powering through things like The Dark Knight, WALL-E, Hellboy II, etc. Regardless, I expected things to slow down and get stinky in August, and indeed the month got off to a bad start with the godawful The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Then there was the latest from Ben Stiller, whom I generally can't stand, but I quickly signed up as a lifetime member of the Tropic Thunder fan club. Pineapple Express made me laugh just as helplessly, and Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona made #1 on my year's ten best list. We even got the exemplary horror film The Midnight Meat Train, even though I didn't get to see that until DVD.

Opening in 800 theaters on Friday, Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo promises to be another enchanting experience. The English-language version features a voice cast that appears to have been chosen from a name recognition menu (one Cyrus girl, one Jonas boy, etc.) but John Lasseter has been as faithful as possible to the original-language versions in the past, and if this is the price to pay to see Miyazaki on the big screen, so be it.

Out on DVD tomorrow, Seijun Suzuki's A Tale of Sorrow (Hishu monogatari), his only film from the 70s, is "a sexy psycho-drama," says Jasper Sharp of Midnight Eye, "based around the popularity of that most bourgeois of sports, golf! ... This long-overlooked work simply cries out for revival." The Samurai I Loved (Semishigure), based on a novel by Shuhei Fujisawa and directed by Mitsuo Kurotsuchi, features "scenes that are absolutely heart-wrenching," Zack Davisson writes at his Japan Review Blog. "What works far outweighs what doesn't." King Eagle (1971), directed by Chang Cheh and starring Ti Lung, is the latest Shaw Brothers release from Image Entertainment. Revenge, swordplay, Chang Cheh: is there anything else we need to know?

Zhang Ziyi stars in the romantic comedy Sophie's Revenge, which opens in China and Hong Kong on Friday. She plays "a comic book artist who plots to get her fiance back after losing him to an actress," according to an Associated Press story. Sophie's Revenge also marks the actress' debut as a producer: writer / director Eva Jin "approached her with her script and she secured funding for the project." Check out the Chinese-language official site; the trailer looks like a fun romp. No word on US distribution yet.

Watch the Sophie's Revenge teaser trailer after the jump!

After Warner Brothers premiered footage from six of their upcoming film projects, including Jonah Hex, The Book of Eli and Where the Wild Things Are, Disney's John Lasseter took the stage to introduce footage and filmmakers from several of the studio's upcoming animated projects.

Among the movies covered:

• Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3-D -- Screening the opening, Star Wars-influenced sequence from Toy Story 2, Lasseter demonstrated the footage conversion and indicated that both films would look just as good as before, if not better, with that third dimension added.
• Toy Story 3 -- No footage from the film was screened, but director Lee Unkrich announced that Michael Keaton was cast as Ken, Barbie's longtime companion, and he showed fans a short "vintage '70s" featurette called "Groovin' With Ken."
  

The Box
Richard Kelly didn't exactly set the world on fire with Southland Tales, but his previous film Donnie Darko is one of my favorite movies of all time and I'm hoping this new film is more along those lines. Based on a short story by Richard Matheson, The Box stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as a couple whose financial problems can be cleared up quite simply. If they press the button on a mysterious box then they will be given a million dollars but someone they don't know will die. Sounds like a classic Twilight Zone moral dilemma, and Matheson did pen a few episodes of the series. We can find out what's in the box on October 30.

Ponyo
I really like the look of this animated feature since it doesn't look like Disney's typical work (they're releasing it here in the States) and it looks kind of atypical for Japanese anime as well. Hayao Miyazaki, the man behind Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro directs. I'd be more interested if the trailer gave a better idea of what the movie is about -- but Miyazaki's resume speaks for itself. This one gets a limited release on August 14.

Rewinding the past seven days of the wonderful world of independent films:

Deals. Twilight fans will have the opportunity to see Kristen Stewart in a different type of role later this year. In Udayan Prasad's The Yellow Handkerchief, based on a story by Pete Hamill, Stewart jumps into a stranger's car. She and the driver (Eddie Redmayne) are soon joined by a newly-released convict (William Hurt) as they travel through rural Louisiana toward a hoped-for reunion with the ex-con's beloved (Maria Bello). Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired U.S. rights and is planning a theatrical release, according to indieWIRE.

Hans-Christian Schmid's legal thriller Storm will also hit theaters later this year, indieWIRE says, courtesy of Film Movement. Kerry Fox stars as a prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague; she must convince a witness (Anamaria Marinca from 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) to testify in order to convict a former officer of war crimes.

Box Office. Arriving with this year's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in hand, Yojiro Takita's Departures took the #1 spot among indies. Set in and around a Japanese business tasked with preparing bodies for burial, the drama earned $8,327 per screen at the nine theaters where it opened in New York and Los Angeles, Box Office Mojo reports.

Also performing well in its debut weekend, Pressure Cooker grossed $8,151 at one theater in New York. The documentary, directed by Jennifer Grausman and Mark Becker, follows a high school culinary arts class in Northeast Philadelphia, where teacher Wilma Stephenson tries to help her students earn college scholarships. We've embedded the fiery trailer below.

After the jump: Outfest lineup, plus Transformers 2 in Los Angeles.

Erotic Vampires. Park Chan-wook's Thirst will have its international premiere at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, but it's already opened in its native South Korea. In his review for Screen International, Darcy Paquet says that the "visually arresting vampire movie Thirst looks certain to create a stir: adopting a more lyrical mode than before, this complex and supremely inventive work sees the filmmaker back on top form."

I've read the knowledgeable Paquet at his site Koreanfilm.org for years, so his opinion is very encouraging, especially when you consider Park's best work includes Old Boy, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, and Joint Security Area. [Via In Contention.] Even better: those of us in the US don't have to wait long to see it. Focus Features will release Thirst in July.

Gentle Fish. If you haven't marked August 14 on your calendars yet, please do so now. That will mark the US theatrical debut of Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo, the master filmmaker's latest work of art. The plot revolves around a princess who just happens to be a goldfish, and her desire to grow legs and walk on land. She develops a friendship with a 5-year-old boy who tries to help her realize her dream. The poster and a still can be viewed at Ain't It Cool News.

Under John Lasseter's committed oversight, Walt Disney Pictures has done right by Studio Ghibli so far, making the original Japanese-language version available at some venues and ensuring that the English dubbing is as faithful as possible. While we wait for the inevitable English-language trailer, here's a teaser, evidently for its release in France, that is silky, poetic, and non-verbal.

Not many movie-going summers have had the good sense or fortune to formally kick themselves off with the likes of Hugh Jackman and his razor-sharp jazz hands, but as these are the times in which we live in, it's a clear indication that we're in for about eighteen weeks of spectacular spectaculars worth gulping down popcorn and guzzling down pop* with.

Eugene's already shone the spotlight on a fair amount of smaller titles worth your while, so our staff tried to keep the focus on that which we haven't seen, those spectacles for which we're most excited and least likely to text during. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls: sit down and shut up, because these are the seven movies that we're fairly f**kin' pumped for.

(*Okay, I pretty much never call soda that, but you get the idea.)